1
as in incomplete
lacking some necessary part
a diet deficient in calcium can lead to weak bones
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in unacceptable
falling short of a standard
woefully deficient eyesight kept him out of military service
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in lacking
not coming up to an expected measure or meeting a particular need
too deficient in common sense to be trusted to stay by himself
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of deficient
Atlanta Falcons: Shemar Stewart, DE, Texas A&M The Falcons have been deficient in pass rushers for years.
—
Ben Standig, The Athletic, 24 Mar. 2025
In 2022 Placer County dropped its approval after an appeals court found that its environmental report was deficient in four areas, including emergency evacuation analysis.
—Calmatters, The Mercury News, 20 Mar. 2025
The motion alleges that the lawsuit is deficient in many other ways.
—Gene Maddaus, Variety, 18 Mar. 2025
And companies that use corruption to get undeserved business typically perform poorly, providing deficient products, infrastructure, and services that harm consumers.
—Richard Nephew, Foreign Affairs, 24 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for deficient
Ben Standig, The Athletic, 24 Mar. 2025
In 2022 Placer County dropped its approval after an appeals court found that its environmental report was deficient in four areas, including emergency evacuation analysis.
—Calmatters, The Mercury News, 20 Mar. 2025
The motion alleges that the lawsuit is deficient in many other ways.
—Gene Maddaus, Variety, 18 Mar. 2025
And companies that use corruption to get undeserved business typically perform poorly, providing deficient products, infrastructure, and services that harm consumers.
—Richard Nephew, Foreign Affairs, 24 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for deficient
Recent Examples of Synonyms for deficient
Adjective
-
Athena works late into the night back at her and Bobby’s home, which is under construction amid an incomplete renovation, trying to piece together what happened and avoiding calls from everyone.—
Jennifer Maas,
Variety,
2 May 2025
-
The essay concerns the classification of knowledge using categories and simple systems—letters and numbers—that result in forms of order that are often incomplete, arbitrary, or absurd.—
Jeffrey Weiss,
Artforum,
1 May 2025
Adjective
-
Cutting them to fund tax breaks for the wealthy is unacceptable.—
Tom Rogers,
MSNBC Newsweek,
30 Apr. 2025
-
Change fatigue can cause corporate leadership to become more willing to accept the unwelcome, and to normalize the unacceptable.—
Michael Peregrine,
Forbes.com,
29 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
Some would argue that picking a celebrity is the wrong way forward.—
Footwear News,
Footwear News,
5 May 2025
-
Simple and neat solutions are alluring but often wrong.—
Wayne Winegarden,
Forbes.com,
4 May 2025
Adjective
-
The result of both inadequate support for new mothers and poor medical advice was that more and more mothers bottle-fed their babies cow’s milk.—
Made by History,
Time,
29 Apr. 2025
-
Others wanted to send a balanced budget using the inadequate funds proposed, along with a resolution demanding more money.—
Josh Michtom,
Hartford Courant,
27 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
Consumer spending softened, increasing 1.8%, down from a 4% rise in the fourth quarter, but a decent performance in light of stock market turmoil and poor weather early in the quarter.—
Paul Davidson,
USA Today,
1 May 2025
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These factors could contribute material risk to Nike’s earnings and put the company in a poor position to manage near-term headwinds.—
Lisa Kailai Han,
CNBC,
30 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
While there are examples of companies taking tangible steps to address water issues, action remains scattered and insufficient.—
Ken Katz,
Sourcing Journal,
5 May 2025
-
The union, which originally projected in late March that a strike might involve as many as 6,000 workers at 60 homes, has asked members over the last few weeks to empower union leaders to order a work stoppage — if leaders deem insufficient progress has occurred in negotiations.—
Keith M. Phaneuf,
Hartford Courant,
2 May 2025
Adjective
-
As holidays go, however, Flag Day can feel a bit lame.—
Kevin Fisher-Paulson,
San Francisco Chronicle,
8 June 2021
-
My 11-year-old loved watching the pups roll balls and play a giant floor piano, but for non-dog owners (guilty as charged), parts of the series—like dressing dogs in little hats and outfits for a Parisian fashion show—feel lame.—
Tim Neville,
Outside Online,
23 Nov. 2020
Adjective
-
President Donald Trump intends to completely reimagine U.S. trade relations with our closest partners and fiercest rivals, for better or worse.—
Charles Singh,
USA Today,
30 Apr. 2025
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As an attempt to derive meaning from a meaningless phrase —which was, after all, the user's request—that's not half bad.—
ArsTechnica,
ArsTechnica,
29 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Deficient.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/deficient. Accessed 11 May. 2025.
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